Starfish: A warning from the past regarding polarization in Science and Society

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Summary of the principal findings

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  A summary of the principal findings  and some propositions regarding starfish outbreaks, including ChatGPT questions Dr Peter James and Dr Robert Endean at Green Island.  Increased sub-tidal abundance of blue linckia could precede COTS outbreaks . Most starfish are rare, cryptic, toxic and in one case even venomous .   The preferred prey is the species attacked preferentially by the predator .  Heron Reef (23° 27′ S, 151° 57′ E) Capricorn Group at southern end of GBR .  The attack of the triton elicits an escape response by the starfish .  Coral reef starfish species may trigger larval settlement in the giant triton .  “ a complex twist to more typical asteroid life-history strategies .”  Many eggs may never be fertilised when adult populations exist at low densities .  Cryptic species have been recognized by Byrne and Walker (2007) .  Giant triton attacks and consumes crown-of-thorns starfish.  (Beaver Reef, 2002).  Starfish Series – #CharoniaResearch This is ChatGPT at work. It&#
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The Giant Triton: List the Giant Triton in Appendix 2 of CITES

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  While the giant triton may be protected on the Great Barrier Reef and elsewhere in Queensland, there is still no evidence this protection has resulted in restored populations of the giant triton. However, there is evidence of continuing illegal collection and trade in Indonesia where it is also legally protected. It is now worth reconsidering whether the existing local protection is sufficient or whether further international protection is required by listing the Giant Triton in Appendix 2 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The giant triton ( Charonia tritonis )is a beautiful shell and a well-known predator of the crown-of-thorns starfish ( Acanthaster planci ). In many parts of the third world, it is still being collected in large numbers and sold to tourists as ornaments. As you admire the beautiful shell, spare a thought for the hungry mollusc that died. And don’t forget, they live on starfish. Many species of starfish are known to outbreak in
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Charonia Research Digital Collection New

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  Miyake-Jima 1957 It's 1957 and Japanese scientists travel to the island of Miyake-Jima to study a strange disease affecting a coral reef. The island’s people have noticed a strange increase in the number of the large, venomous crown-of-thorns starfish. Over the following years they kill large numbers of the starfish attempting to protect the living coral upon which the starfish is feeding. The Japanese scientists noted that they had observed giant triton shells feeding on the crown-of-thorns starfish, in research published only in Japanese. 5 years later This same species of starfish is noticed in increasing numbers at Green Island, off Cairns here in Australia. Over the next five years, the starfish outbreak will consume much of the living coral at Green Island and other reefs in the vicinity. The giant triton is again observed feeding on crown-of-thorns starfish and research in Queensland is commenced on the feeding rate and prey preference of the giant triton. Tests ar
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